Russel William Norman (born 2 June 1967) is a New Zealand politician and environmentalist. He was a Member of Parliament and former co-leader of the Green Party.[2] Norman resigned as an MP in October 2015 to work as Executive Director of Greenpeace Aotearoa New Zealand.[3]

Norman moved to New Zealand in 1997, saying this was to observe the red-green Alliance coalition. He wrote his political science PhD thesis on the Alliance, and was active within the party, editing its party newsletter.[5]

Following the death of Rod Donald, Norman put his name forward as a contender for the male co-leader position. He won the position on 3 June 2006 at the annual meeting, beating Tanczos, David Clendon and former MP Mike Ward in an STV vote by delegates from electorates around the country.[6][7]

In June 2010, Norman claimed he was assaulted by Chinese security staff when he protested against a visiting Chinese delegation of the Vice President Xi Jinping with a Tibetan snow lion flag. Norman lodged a complaint of assault with the New Zealand Police and the Speaker of the House, but police did not find enough evidence to substantiate his claims.[11]

In January 2015, shortly after the birth of his third child, Norman announced he would stand down as co-leader of the Green Party. However, he said he would remain as a Green MP for the foreseeable future.[12] He named what he saw as his key political victories as co-leader as: forcing the Government to reverse its decision to allow mining on Schedule 4 conservation land, and leading a campaign and referendum against National's asset sales programme.[6] Norman was succeeded by James Shaw as co-leader on 30 May 2015.[13] On 11 September 2015, Norman announced that he will resign in October as an MP, and that he will also formally resign from the Green Party, prior to taking on the role of Executive Director of Greenpeace Aotearoa New Zealand. This enabled the next person on the Green Party list, Marama Davidson, to become a member of parliament.[14] In his valedictory speech in Parliament, he spoke about the loss of democracy in New Zealand, and said there were significant problems regarding access to official information.[15]

In 2012 when Norman and David Shearer shaved their heads for a cancer appeal, he revealed that he had had a melanoma mole removed from his forearm at age 15, leaving a 10 cm scar.[18]

In 2014, Norman was awarded a Bravo award by the New Zealand Skeptics for responding to Steffan Browning's comments on homeopathy stating, "stating that this was not something the Green Party would support as they take 'an evidence based approach.'"[19]